No bonuses for troopers who write more traffic tickets, Scott vows

Gov. Rick Scott on Friday rejected the possibility that bonuses for Florida Highway Patrol troopers could be connected to the numbers of traffic tickets they write.

Scott issued a strongly worded statement after media reports raised questions about whether the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles was considering such a plan.

“The idea that FHP would tie officer bonuses to the number of tickets they write is absolutely outrageous and wrong,’’ Scott said in a prepared statement. “All state worker bonuses should be based on better — not worse — outcomes for the people of Florida who pay the taxes to fund state government.”

The Tallahassee Democrat reported Sunday that the Florida Police Benevolent Association was concerned that the department, which oversees the Highway Patrol, would link trooper evaluations with “public contacts,” which include traffic stops, traffic citations, written warnings and arrests.

In contract offers with the union, the department said traffic-citation quotas would not be put in place, the Democrat reported. But Scott appeared Friday to try to end any speculation on the issue.

“Floridians paying more in tickets is not a better outcome. Period,’’ he said. “If this idea comes across my desk, I will reject it.”

Efforts to reach Dylan Bryan, area spokesman with the Highway Patrol, were not successful Friday.